Covered hopper car end construction

ABSTRACT

AS HOPPER RAILROAD CAR END CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A STUB CENTER SILL SPACED AWAY FROM AND OUTWARDLY OF THE HOPPER SLOPE SHEET, A HORIZONTAL SHEAR PLATE BEAM BEING MOUNTED ON THE STUB SILL, A TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING UPRIGHT BOLSTER WEB BEAM WELDED ON THE SHEAR PLATE BEAM AND JOINING WITH THE SLOPE SHEET, AND A LOWER END BEAM STRUCTURE WELDED IN UPRIGHT POSITION ON THE OUTER END OF THE SHEAR PLATE BEAM AND WITH THE SIDE PORTIONS OF THE CAR.

Sept. 1971 K. N.JOHNSON EI'AL 3,606,841

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 30, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 w INVENTORS 8 3 KENT 1v. JOHNSON JOHN H. SPENCE WILLIAM AN DER SLUYS M/#- 1 ATT Y.

Sept. 21, 1971 K. N. JOHNSON ETA!- 3,505,341

COVERED norm: on mm cousmucnon Filed Dec. 50. 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTORS KENT N. JOHNSON JOHV H. SPENCE WILLIAM VAN DER SLUYS Sept. 21, 1971 JOHNSON ErAL 3,506,841

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec 30, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVE N TORS KENT N. JOHNSON JOHN H. SPENCE WILLIAM VAN DER SLUYS Sept. 21, 1971 v JOHNSQN EI'AL 3,606,841

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 50. 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 21, 1971 JOHNSON EI'AL 3,606,841

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 30, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VE N TORS KENT N JOHNSON JOHN H. SPENCE ILL/AM VAN DER SLUYS BY ATT'Y.

United States Patent O 3,606,841 COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Kent N. Johnson, South Holland, John H. Spence, Chlcago Heights, and William Van der Sluys, Homewood, Ill., assignors to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Dec. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 787,924 Int. Cl. B6111 /00, 7/00, 17/06 US. Cl. 105--248 24 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide for a vehicle end construction such as the end construction for the hopper railroad car where there is provided a beam construction consisting of a pair of longitudinally spaced upright beam structures in the form of a lower end beam and a bolster web beam each being mounted on the shear plate beam for efficiently absorbing and transmitting coupler forces of the butt and draft type plus vertical up or down into the sides of the car in a center stub sill arrangement where the center sills of the car are not continuous the length of the car. The bending stresses when viewing the instant novel construction of the shear plate beam, the bolster web beam and the lower end beam as a unit under the longitudinal impact loads, produces a more efiicient structure when the three beams are interconnected than would be the case if these three beams were not interconnected but rather only adequately tied to the stub sill and acting as independent beaming elements. The shear plate beam bending stresses subtract from the bolster web beam bending stresses at the bolster web beam to shear plate beam connection and the shear plate beam bending stresses subtract from the end beam bending stresses at the end beam to the shear plate beam connection thus producing structural advantages at the interconnected locations above that which could be realized if the beams were separated. The upright end beam lower flange is actually a portion of the shear plate beam attaching with the lower end beam by welding and the shear plate beam is provided with a flange at each end, one being formed by the upright end beam where the two beams are welded together and the other being formed by the upright bolster web beam where the bolster web beam and the shear plate beam are welded together. The upright bolster web beam flange is part of the shear plate beam at the connection by welding of the shear plate beam with the bolster Web beam. The web portions of the beams accept primarily the shear stresses whereas the flange portions of the beams accept the bending stresses. By sharing of flanges a unique efficient structure is obtained of sufficient strength and light weight.

These and other objects will become apparent from reference to the following description, drawings and apended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial side elevational view of the novel hopper car;

3,606,841 Patented Sept. 21, 1971 ICC FIG. la is a side elevational view of the hopper car;

FIG. 2 is an end view of a hopper car;

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevational view of a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the modification shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial side elevational view of another modification of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the modification shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial side elevational view of still a further modification of the invention;

FIG. 8 is an end view of a modification shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective end view portion of the modification shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings, there is shown an end hopper car construction of the general type shown in co-pending patent application of John H. Spence and William Van der Sluys, Ser No. 739,319 filed June 24, 1968, now Pat. No. 3,557,713, issued Jan. 26, 1971 which co-pending application is incorporated herein by reference. The following embodiments, however, are directed to a beam construction of an upright end beam and an upright bolster web beam whether there is employed a fiat horizontal shear plate or a gull wing type shear plate as will be understood by reading the following description.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the railroad hopper car 2 has end portions 3 and a top 4, sides 5, and ends 6. The roof 4 is provided with root sheeting 7 and each side 5 is provided with side sheeting 8 which spans vertically between the upper side plate 9 and the lower side sill 10. Side posts 11 extend between and are connected to each side sill 10 and side plate 9. A side post 12 is aligned with the bolster web beam 13 at each end of the car. Each bolster web beam 13 spans and is connected to each longitudinally extending side sill and car side and is fixedly mounted (by welding w) on the horizontal end shear plate 14 mounted on a respective stub center sill 15 by welding w. Each end of the car is further provided with the usual vehicle or body bolster 14a having side bearing support assembly 14b at the inner portion of the stub sill.

Each bolster Web beam 13- at each end of the car extends transversely of the car and upwardly tohave an outwardly turned end flange 16 being attached (by welding w) to the downwardly inwardly sloping transversely extending hopper slope sheet 17. Each slope sheet at the end of the car has its outer end portions merging with the upper, outer end sheeting 18 attached tothe roof 4. The slope sheet 17 extends to the upper, outermost portion of the car and the end sheeting 18 is located at the end of the car and is fastened to the corner posts 19 which are L-shaped structural members connecting the side and end sheets with the outer ends of the side sills 10 and lower end beam of the car 2. The shear plate beam 14 extends from its connection with the bolster web beam 13 outwardly to the end of the car and to the side sills 10 and joins by welding w with the lower upright end beam 20. The lower end beam 20 comprises a generally upright web portion 201: and a horizontally inwardly turned flange portion 20!). Reaction gussets 21 are attached to each side of each stub center sill 15 and to the underside of the shear plate as by welding w.

The shear plate beam 14 extends outwardly of and is spaced outwardly and away from the slope sheet 16 to define an open box arrangement with the bolster web beam 13 and the slope sheet 17. Therefore, there is no torque box arrangement of the shear plate bolster web and slope sheet, and loads, as in buff, are transmitted to the sides of the car from the center sill by means of the beam construction of the end beam 20 and the bolster web beam and shear plate beam and the connection of each of these beams 20 and 13 to the shear plate beam. A portion of the shear plate beam 14 connected to the end beam 20 acts as a flange for the beam 20 and a portion of the end beam 20 that is adjacent to and connected to the shear plate beam 14 acts as a flange for the shear plate beam 14. A portion of the shear plate beam adjacent to and connected to the bolster web beam 13 acts as a flange for the shear plate beam 14 and a portion of the shear plate beam 14 adjacent to and connected tothe bolster web beam 13 acts as a flange for the bolster web beam 13. Thus, there is a sharing of flanges between the end beam 20 and the shear plate beam 14 and between the shear plate beam 14 and the bolster Web beam 13'. The bending stresses of the shear plate beam, bolster web beam and the lower end beam act as a unit under the longitudinal impact loads to produce a more efficient structure when interconnected than it would be if the above means were not interconnected as they share common flanges. The path of the impact forces in shear and in bending pass from the center sill into the shear plate beamand to the lower end beam and bolster web beams to the sides of the car. Because of the sharing of flanges of these three beams, bending forces subtract from one another at the connection between the end beam and the shear plate beam and between the shear plate beam and the bolster Web beam, improved structural result that could not be realized if these beams were separated.

, FIGS. 3 and 4 are illustrative. of a modified form of my invention and are provided with the same reference characters as shown in the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception that the side sheet portion of each side sheeting 8 between the slope sheet 17, the post 12, the corner post 19, and the side sill 10 has been removed to illustrate that the impact loads are transferred by Way of the lower end beam and bolster web beam and shear plate arrangement into the corner posts and side sheeting and into the sides of the car. The corner posts act as a structural post for getting the end beam load into the sides of the car.

The second modification shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 shows the end sheet 18 to be disposed inwardly of the corner posts 19 foreshortening the slope sheet or causing its termination to be inwardly of the corner posts 19 of the car with the side sheeting of the car below the slope sheet also being spaced inwardly of the corner post 19 and inwardly of the end sheeting 18. As viewed in FIG. 5, the upper portion of the side sheeting '8 on each side of the car terminates at the upright sheeting edge 8a, the sloped sheeting edge 8b, and the upright lower sheeting edge 80, and the end of the car is provided with a pair of diagonally upwardly extending side structures or diagonal end posts 22 on each side of the car. Each diagonal end post 22 has its upper terminal end 22a mounted on the upper outer end portion of the side sheeting 8 and on the lower portion of each upright corner post 19'. A corner gusset plate 23 is attached on the lower inside portion of each corner post 19 and to each diagonal post 22 at its lower end portion 22b to reinforce the connection of the end post 22 with the corner post 19. In all other respects the second modification is identical to the first disclosed embodiment.

A still further or third modification is shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 where there is provided a modified form of shear plate beam 25 of the gull wing type, as also shown in the aforementioned US. patent application, Ser. No. 739,319. In the gull wing design of the third modification, the shear plate beam 25 comprises a horizontal fiat portion 25a attached to the stub center sill 15 by welding w and a pair of upwardly diagonally laterally extending shear plate beam portions 25b, each. of which is attached to a respective side sill 10 as by welding w. The laterally extending upwardly and outwardly sloping shear plate beam portions 25 in connecting with the side sills 10 elevate the sides of the car above the stub sill 15 to the extent of the sloping of such shear plate beam portions 25b resulting in less side girder construction. The lower end beam is connected to the bolster web beam by a diagonally inwardly extending pair of angle plates or beams 26. Each angle beam comprises a vertical leg 26a and a horizontal leg 26b. Each horizontal leg 26b extends outwardly toward a respective side of the car. Additional support elements 27, 27 are provided between the end beam 20 and the bolster web beam 13. Each support element 27 consists of an upright member having a horizontally outturned flange 27a and an upright vertical web- 27b Welded as by w to the juncture of a respective gull wing portion 25b with the horizontal portion 25a of the gull wing shear plate beam 25-. Each upright support member 27 at its inner end is welded to the bolster web beam 13' by welding w and to the outer lower end beam 20 by welding w. The lower end beam 20 is shaped to conform to and is welded (indicated by w) to the gull wing shear plate beam 25. The elements 27 in conjunction with the reinforcing elements 26 provide additional structural sup porting means and for transferring loads between the upright bolster web beam and the lower upright end beam. These longitudinally extending upwardly and inwardly sloping plate or tie members 26- extend from and connect (by welding w) with the horizontal flange 20b to the outwardly turned end flange 16 and are connected therewith by welding w. The tie members or reinforcing members 26 aid in transmitting loads between the two upright beams 20 and 13.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 it is to be noted that the side sheeting 8' on each side "of the car extends slightly outwardly of the last side post 11 that is beyond the side post 12 to define a side sheet portion 8a. Upper side sheet portions 8b extend beyond portions 8a and connect with the upper side plates 9, the end of the slope sheet 17 and with the end sheeting 18. The upper end portion of the slope sheet 17, the end sheeting 18, the side sheet portion 8b all extend beyond or outwardly of the end of the side sills, while the stub center sill extends outwardly beyond the side sills, the shear plate beam 25 and beyond the end sheet, as seen in side elevational view in FIG. 7 and also in FIG. 9. In all other respects this third modification is similar to the first embodiment.

In all of the embodiments, the three-beam arrangement of the end beam 20 and the bolster web beam 13 and shear plate beam 14 has for its object to get the loading or impact forces into the sides of the car, the sides of the car acting as structural members or beaming elements. Further, the bolster web beam, shear plate beam and lower end beam of this end arrangement form an integral channel-shaped section. The shear center of the effective channel-shaped section of this end arrangement is designed close to the line of action of the longitudinal bufi and draft couple forces. The close proximity of the coupler force and the shear center results in near uniform axial stresses with minimal torsion in the bolster web beam, lower end beam and shear plate beam and thereby a high degree of structural efliciency.

The term center sill-less" car, as used herein, refers to the use of two longitudinally spaced end stub center sills, as distinguished from a single continuous through center sill of the conventional type.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a center sill-less railroad freight car having opposed end portions connected by side structures, an

end of car construction for each end of the car comprising:

a stub center sill,

a shear plate beam fixedly mounted on the stub center sill,

a generally vertical transversely extending bolster web beam mounted over the vehicle bolster and extending upward from the shear plate beam and upwardly along the side structures of the car and being fixedly attached to the side structures of the car and to the shear plate beam for transferring loads from the stub center sill to the side structures of the car, and

said car end construction being provided with a slope sheet above the bolster web beam, the bolster web beam at its upper end connecting with the slope sheet intermediate its ends and said stub center sill and said shear plate being spaced outwardly and away from said slope sheet to define an open nontorque box construction between the slope sheet, the shear plate beam and the bolster web beam,

a lower end beam extending substantially vertically and extending transversely to and connecting with the side structures of the car and being spaced below each upper end of the car and fixedly connected with the shear plate beam for substantially transferring loads from the stub center sill to the side structures of the car,

said bolster web beam having its lower end being integrally connected to the inner end of said shear plate beam and the lower end of said lower end beam being integrally connected to the outer end of said shear plate beam so that the connecting portions of each of the three beams acting as a web and flange for the other two permit the three-beam construction to act in bending and in shear.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said bolster web beam being welded to said shear plate beam and said lower end beam being welded to said shear plate beam to define a generally integral channel shaped structure for directing the buif forces from the center sill into the side structure of the car.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said lower end beam comprising an upright web porportion and an upper horizontal flange portion.

4. The invention accordings to claim 1, and

said shear plate being in a horizontal plane.

5. The invention according to claim 1, and

said shear plate beam having a horizontal portion mounted on said stub sill and having a pair of laterally extending upwardly outwardly sloping shear plate beam portions connecting with the horizontal portion and with respective sides of the car.

6. The invention according to claim 1, and

said side structures including upright corner posts being connected to a respective side of said lower end beam and extending upwardly from the shear plate beam to the top of the end of the car.

7. The invention according to claim 6, and

side sheeting on each side of the car connecting with each corner post and with the upper and lower portions of the car to define the side structures, said side structures acting as girders for receiving loading from the beams.

8. The invention according to claim 6, and

a side reinforcing member on each side of the car connecting with the lower portion of a respective corner post and with the respective upper portion of each side sheeting at each end side of the car.

9. The invention according to claim 1, and

tie means connecting with the lower end beam and with the bolster web beam.

10. The invention according to claim 9, and

said tie means comprising a pair of beam members.

11. The invention according to claim 9, and

gusset reinforcing means mounted on said shear plate and connecting with said bolster web beam and said lower end beam.

12. The invention according to claim 11, and

said gusset reinforcing means comprising a pair of longitudinally extending laterally spaced upright gusset elements.

13. A railroad car comprising:

a center sill-less hopper portion,

a pair of end portions connecting with the center portion,

a pair of side girders forming the sides of said center hopper portion and said end portion,

each side girder comprising an upper side plate, a lower side sill, and a plurality of side posts interconnecting the side plate and the side sill and attached to said side sheeting,

each end portion comprising, an end stub center sill, a shear plate beam mounted over the vehicle bolster and on said center sill and extending laterally to each side sill and connecting therewith, a lower transverse upright end beam member having its lower end being integrally attached to said shear plate beam at the outer end portion thereof and extending laterally to and attached to the side girders of the car, and a transverse upright bolster web beam being spaced inwardly and longitudinally of the end beam and its lower end being integrally attached to the inner top end portion of said shear plate and being attached to said side girders.

the bolster web beam integrally forming with the end beam a three-beam construction in their attachment to the shear plate beam for receiving impact forces from the stub center sill, the end beam and shear plate beam sharing common flanges and the bolster web beam and shear plate beam sharing common flanges for receiving bending and shear stresses imparted as a result of the impact forces to the stub center sill and transmitting the forces to the side girders of the car,

said center portion of said car being a hopper portion,

each end portion having a hopper slope sheet defining each end of the center portion,

said bolster web beam of each end portion extending upwardly to and being fixedly attached to a respective slope sheet intermediate the ends thereof, each slope sheet being spaced inwardly and away from a respective end stub center sill.

14. The invention according to claim 13, and

side sheeting being spaced from the side'posts located at the corners of the car.

15. The invention according to claim 13, and

sheeting being located on the sides and at the upper ends of the car, said sheeting and said slope sheet being spaced inwardly from the'side posts located at the corners of the car.

16. The invention according to claim 13, and

diagonal posts located on each side and at each end of the car and extending from a lower outer end of the side post at each corner to and joining with a respective side sheeting adjacent the upper part of a respective slope sheet.

17 The invention according to claim 13, and

the lower end beam extending upward to a lower elevation than said bolster web beam.

18. The invention according to claim 13, and

said end beam being welded to said shear plate beam and said shear plate beam being welded to said bolster web beam.

19. The invention according to claim 13, and

a pair of corner posts located at each end of the car and side sheeting forming a side girder connecting wtih the respective side sill and the respective side plate and extending to and connecting with said side posts.

20. The invention according to claim 13, and

each side girder including a corner post at each end of the car, said end beam being fixedly connected with each corner post.

21. The invention according to claim 13, and

said side girder at each end above the slope sheet having side sheeting,

gusset means attached to each corner post at the shear plate beam and end beam, and

side support members extending from the gusset reinforced corner post and to the side sheeting above the slope sheet.

22. The invention according to claim 13, and

said shear plate beam having a horizontal portion on said stub sill and having laterally extending upwardly sloping portions extending from the horizontal portion to the side sills of the car to define a gull wing shear plate design.

23. The invention according to claim 22, and

end reinforcing strut means extending from the top of the end beam upwardly to the top of the bolster web beam.

24. The invention according to claim 22, and

shear plate mounted reinforcing gusset means mounted on the shear plate beam and connecting with the end beam and with the bolster web beam and being located over the stub center sill.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Christianson 105248 Olden 105-247 Weaver 105-247 Weaver 105250 Hart 105-249 Anderson 10 5247 Cartzdafner 10 5-248 Kassler et al 10525 3 Glaser et al. 105-406 Rollins 30252 Charles et al 10 5248 Kadel et al 105226X Halcomb 105-406X U.S. Cl. X.R. 

